Creme Brulee Set Recipes

We gave another dinner party last night. Daddy (my father-in-law) had new friends over; they're a delightful couple who recently moved from Boston to the Bay Area. We had a lovely, fairly light meal consisting of lots of seafood, such as crab cakes with muhammara (pomegranate sauce) accompanied by seafood Israeli couscous salad, then roasted Chilean seabass with homemade preserved citrus hollandaise sauce. I wanted to keep the same delicate mood for dessert, so I prepared lightly sweetened matcha green tea pot de creme. I believe that food should be a visual experience, so I decorated the sweet treats with whipped cream and fresh raspberries.

I was so excited to have been given a tin of matcha green tea powder in my Christmas stocking stuffer and couldn't wait to make use of the unique, distinctive flavor of this tea. Its lovely, natural jade color is very subtle, but subtlety can actually be quite a stimulating experience for the palate.

This week has gone by so fast. And it's already that time of the week when I share another dessert recipe with you. I prepared a French dessert I make often during the winter season because it doesn't require any fruit. I simply raided my pantry and used vanilla beans, instant coffee and Kahlúa, which is a coffee-flavored, rum-based liqueur. Yes, you probably already guessed it; I prepared pot de creme.

I love how easy and simple they are to make. The texture is velvety and lightly sweetened. In my opinion, pots de crème are the quintessential representation of decadence one can find in French desserts.

I've mentioned it in the past; even though it might raise some eyebrows, foie gras, or duck/goose liver, is my guilty pleasure. Maman would always serve this French delicacy during our holiday dinner. If you've never tasted foie gras before, it's like eating a piece of intensely flavored, semi-softened butter.

I got a lovely whole duck foie gras from The Milk Pail Market in Mountain View, CA. Instead of serving it as a main course (I’ll publish a main course recipe soon), I added the foie gras to a savory custard and made crèmes brûlées. Obviously, this is not your ordinary vanilla flavored dessert crème brûlée. I made savory crème brulees in the past with ingredients like garlic, so this isn’t exactly new territory for me. The result was amazing; foie gras and sweet flavors pair perfectly together. I added specks of foie gras to the custard as well as a large piece in the center of each ramekin. I also topped them with a larger chunk on top of the sugar crust as a reminder of the flavoring inside. I served the fancy starter with toasted bread so the foie gras could be spread onto the toasts.

This weekend giveaway is for Bay Area readers or people who are able to redeem their prize on site. The Milk Pail Market, which happens to be my favorite local market, is generously donating five $25 gift certificates. You could put this to good use and create a marvelous Christmas dinner for your loved ones. At any rate, I love this market; you can find a wide variety of cheeses, (check out the fromage blanc), French products such as Mamie Nova yogurts and tons of other European products as well. And don't forget to try their famous croissants! Be sure to stop by and discover these fabulous ingredients. The address is 2585 California Street, Mountain View, CA 94040. To participate to our giveaway, visit our 25 Days of Giveaways page and enter today. Good luck!

If you've been following my culinary adventures, you've probably noticed how much I love pistachios! Daddy (my father-in-law) went to visit one of his friends in Sacramento who grows orchards of pistachios. Daddy brought bags filled with fresh pistachios back for me to have fun with. I had never seen or tasted the raw product and it was amazing. The color is richer and greener. Daddy said raw pistachios are very common in India and picking the pistachios brought him back in time. There were so many pistachios that I had to come up with creative ways to make use of them. I immediately thought of making pistachio paste by grinding and blending them raw with a little Bourbon Barrel Vanilla Sugar. I also added pistachio oil to make the paste smooth and creamy because pistachios contain very little natural oil compared to other nuts. I also added a touch of almond extract to give the pistachio paste a nice aroma.

I didn't stop there. I used the paste to flavor a typical French dessert: crème brûlée. I've made crèmes brûlées so many times (lavender, banana, cherry, masala chai, matcha green tea, lemon, chocolate, vanilla, butterscotch, even a savory garlic flavored-one!) that after checking back on PhamFatale.com, I was surprised to see that I never posted this particular version! The pistachios were so fresh that it was almost guaranteed that the crèmes brûlées would be divine. To accentuate the dessert, I used vanilla sugar from Bourbon Barrel in the pistachio paste, the custard mixture and the brûlé part itself. It’s just more evidence that a few exquisite ingredients can transform the simplest foods (eggs, milk, cream and sugar) into something extraordinary.

In addition to tasting incredible, this naturally green-colored dessert can be part of your Halloween table. The kids can have their Snickers and Twix; I’d rather have one (or three) of these pistachio crèmes brûlées!

If you go through the previous crème brûlée recipes I've shared so far, this savory version will probably raise some eyebrows. It's not that I've run out of ideas for sweet crèmes brûlées; there are plenty more to come. I've just been toying with the idea of making a savory one because I think the creamy custard and crunchy top create a perfect canvas for savory ingredients.

I chose roasted garlic, goat cheese and herbs because they are intensely flavorful and make an excellent camouflage for the egg flavor. For the top, I mixed parmesan cheese and a bit of sugar and then took my blow torch to the mixture.

Savory crèmes brûlées can be quite an original appetizer to serve at your Christmas party. They are uncommon enough to help mark just about any special occasion though.